Boyfriend (fashion)

In fashion design, "boyfriend" is a style of women's clothing that draws heavily from corresponding men's garments. Boyfriend style clothes are designed to looser or boxier, and tend to be oversized - giving the appearance that one is wearing their boyfriend's clothing. The style can be traced back to the 1960s, when Marilyn Monroe wore boyfriend jeans - loose fitting jeans that would highly contrast her extremely feminine looks in favor of a masculine aesthetic. While the style continued to grow with women borrowing their boyfriends' clothes, modern boyfriend style clothes are often designed to look unisex and fit most women. As the trend continues to grow, many brands, such as Gap, Forever 21, H&M, and Urban Outfitters, begin to create boyfriend or men's-inspired fashion targeted at female consumers.

Background of women in menswear

In the 19th century, women in Western society were typically expected to wear dresses, skirts, and corsets. Amelia Bloomer, a women's rights activist in the 1850s, was one of the first to change mainstream womenswear when she introduced the bloomer, and in the 1930s, movie stars such as Katharine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich sometimes wore menswear-style fashion. During WWII, masculine attire became more acceptable womenswear, especially as more women took on jobs that required physical labor. After the war ended, many returned to more feminine forms of dressing. It was not until the 1960s and early 1970s that menswear-inspired fashion was no longer considered a rebellious political statement.

In current fashion

Currently, the boyfriend style is decently popular, with many online retailers selling various garments in the style. Urban Outfitters, a popular clothing store for women, has many boyfriend style clothing options that are becoming increasingly popular.